Mystery Valentine
by Cakedecorator
Summary: Valentine's Day is coming up, the high school is having a party to celebrate, and Marinette's class has to exchange Valentines with each other, and she plans to confess to her crush, Luka! But she also has to send a valentine to class clown Adrien, which is the last thing she wants to do cause of his constant teasing/pranks. But she isn't expecting the tables to be turned. Rated T


**Hey Miraculers! With Valentine's Day (My FAV holiday!) coming up, I thought I'd indulge us in a Valentine's Day one-shot for Miraculous Ladybug! Don't worry, the Miraculous still exist in this one, but there will be some differences here. **

**For those of us who are familiar with the Berenstain Bears books and TV shows, this one-shot is based on the book, "Berenstain Bears' Funny Valentine." That particular story focuses on that stupid cliché about a boy teasing a girl because he likes her, which I have to say, realistically, IS NOT OKAY! People shouldn't be conditioned to think that teasing, bullying, and other behaviors like this are a healthy form of affection. Sort of sets people up for emotional/relationship failure in adulthood, doesn't it? **

**Now, time to summarize the plot: Valentine's Day is coming up, the high school is having a party to celebrate, and Marinette's class has to exchange Valentines with each other as a rule. Marinette can't wait to use the party as a chance to confess to her crush, Luka! ****But while she still has her responsibilities as Ladybug (and she's DEFINITELY keeping a lookout for akumas on Valentine's Day), she also has to put up with the constant teasing and pranks from class clown Adrien Agreste, who always calls her "Princess" and never seems to leave her alone.  
**

* * *

A girl in a red and black-spotted jumpsuit and matching domino mask was swinging around the city rooftops of Paris, France. She landed behind a building next to a school and she said, _"Spots off!"_

She emerged from the building wearing a dark gray blazer, a white floral shirt, pink pants, red flats, and wearing a matching pink clutch. She also had blue eyes and black hair in pigtails.

"Nice work, Marinette!" A small, red creature that looked like a ladybug said as she hid in the clutch.

"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette said. "Now let's get back to the school before I'm late again."

She dashed all the way to the school and dove into the schoolyard, which was decorated with red, white, pink, hearts, and streamers. The school was still on lunch period, so Marinette was able to sneak in without any suspicion. She went to one of the benches and sat down. She took her sketchpad out and started drawing some new designs in her book.

"Marinette! Girl!" Someone else shouted. Marinette looked up and saw a girl with tan skin, dark red hair, hazel eyes framed by black glasses, wearing an orange flannel shirt over a white tank-top and blue jeans, running over to her.

"Alya! Did you get the footage?" Marinette asked, always indulging her BFF's rambling about the newest footage for the Ladyblog, a blog dedicated to Ladybug and Cat Noir's escapades.

"You know it, girl!" Alya said as she sat down and showed Marinette a video of the latest akuma attack to post on the Ladyblog.

Alya was a huge fan of Ladybug and Cat Noir, but she was a fan of Ladybug in particular. Unknown to the blogger, Ladybug's secret identity was her own best friend. And Marinette trusted Alya so much, that often times she'd draft Alya in as Rena Rouge, the wielder of the Fox Miraculous. And Marinette was right in her choice to enlist Alya. She proved trustworthy and never told _anyone_ about being Rena Rouge... That is, until "Heroes' Day" when Ladybug had no choice but to reveal Alya as Rena Rouge in front of her boyfriend, Nino Lahiffe, who'd also get called in every now and again as Carapace, the user of the Turtle Miraculous.

"Ooh! Marinette, here's some of Cat Noir's moves on the akuma! I know you've told me you'd like to think of him as "sex on legs," right?!" Alya said.

"Alya, you _know_ I was joking that one time!" Marinette said, blushing in embarrassment.

It wasn't quite true. Marinette used to have a thing for her partner, Cat Noir. She'd fallen for him when he gave her encouragement, reassurance, and support during their second fight with their very first akuma, Stoneheart. She'd never had anyone have _so much_ faith in her after such a huge blunder. It was thanks to him that she managed to step up and fix her own mess.

But one day, he gently told her that he had feelings for someone else. Ladybug respected that and made a decision to move on, thinking that pining after someone who'd never feel the same way about her would've been unhealthy. And her heart had been stolen by someone else sometime later...

Marinette was thinking about the object of her affections when Alya noticed someone coming their way. She nudged her BFF and said, "Marinette, someone's coming, and guess who it is."

"Oh, is it Luka?" Marinette asked, a bright smile coming on to her still-red face.

Marinette's new crush turned out to be Luka Couffaine, who just so happened to be their friend Juleka's older brother. Marinette and Luka first met during the music festival about a month or so after Cat Noir turned her down.

Marinette had been sent down below the deck of the houseboat, Liberty, to fetch Luka. After teasing her a bit, he played a song for Marinette on his guitar, which soothed her. And during the whole Captain Hardrock disaster, Luka continually expressed how he found Marinette to be amazing and super brave. He didn't just tell Marinette this to her face, but he also expressed concern and admiration for her when Ladybug came to their rescue.

So, after the festival, Marinette officially told Alya that she'd found herself a new crush to gush over. And Alya had her back as always... As did Juleka, who also got the hint that Marinette had a thing for her brother.

"No, it's Adrien." Alya groaned.

"_Oh mon dieu_, not Adrien!" Marinette moaned while face-palming.

Adrien Agreste, the son of Marinette's fashion hero Gabriel Agreste, part-time model for Gabriel, and one of the most popular boys in school, was a young Adonis with blonde hair and green eyes. He _seemed_ harmless to the public eye, especially the girls in his peer group. But for some weird reason Marinette couldn't fathom, he seemed to have it out for her since day one. But the way he tormented her wasn't like Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor's daughter, used to do it. It was easier and more accurate to compare him to a class clown than an actual bully.

Marinette kept her head turned away from Adrien as he was sauntering over to the girls. There was this glint in Adrien's eyes that she couldn't identify, meanwhile Alya was giving him a look that told him that she wasn't going to take any crap from him at all.

Adrien walked up beside the bench so he could maintain eye contact with Marinette, put his hand up against the wall and leaned against it, giving the impression that he was easygoing and slick. He gave her a smile.

"Hi, Princess." Adrien said while waving his free hand.

"Don't "hi" me, Adrien. And I've already told you a thousand times not to call me that," Marinette said as she turned her face away again and opened up her sketchpad again. "Ever hear me calling you "hot stuff?""

Alya smothered a laugh at that jab.

"No, but that wouldn't suck. In fact, that'd be sweeter than your parents' desserts, Princess." Adrien teased, winking at her.

Marinette face-palmed and groaned at his comeback.

"Look, what do you want, Adrien?" Marinette asked, not looking up from her sketchbook. She continued scribbling in it to avoid meeting his eyes. "You'd better not have any plastic spiders like yesterday or a joy buzzer like last week!"

"No joy buzzer, no fake bugs. Only me." Adrien said as he looped around the bench and faced Marinette. His hands were behind his back.

"What do you have behind your back, Adrien?" Alya asked.

"Nothing, I swear!" Adrien said as he held his hands out and showed that they were empty. However, he had a mischievous light in his eyes as he eyed Marinette's sketchbook. "But I have something in my hands now."

"What?" Marinette asked suspiciously.

"This!" Adrien said as he yanked Marinette's sketchbook out of her hands and started running.

"Hey! Get back here with my sketchbook, you boor!" Marinette shouted as she started running after Adrien to get her sketchbook back.

Unknown to her, while Adrien was enjoying getting a rise out of Marinette, he was also thoroughly examining her sketches. The designs she had made were really good. He couldn't help but smile at her talent. Hell, he'd even started thinking about showing the book to his father, especially if he managed to hang on to it.

Adrien and Marinette were running around the schoolyard, the latter trying to get her book back while Adrien continued to tease her, still calling her "Princess" and giving her a hard time. Everyone in the yard was watching and sighing in ether annoyance or amusement. This was a frequent occurrence, but that didn't mean people didn't feel bad for Marinette or found Adrien's antics funny.

Adrien was halfway up the staircase, still waving the book in the air and saying, "Catch me if you can, Princess!"

"I mean it, Adrien!" Marinette shouted, fuming. "Mr. Damocles is going to hear about this if you don't cut it out and give me my book back _RIGHT NOW!_"

"Come and get it then, Princess!" Adrien teased while giving Marinette a "come here" gesture with his pointer finger, only for someone else to take the book out of Adrien's hand.

"Enough, Adrien." Someone said, getting Adrien's ire.

The person responsible for interceding was a boy about an inch or two taller than Adrien. He had eyes like the ocean framed by a handsome face that had olive skin tone to it. His hair was black and short with Caribbean blue tips that matched his eyes. He had black gages in his ears, was wearing a blue jean jacket over a Jagged Stone t-shirt and black, ripped jeans. He also had black-painted fingernails and a guitar case on his back.

"Luka!" Marinette said, a smile coming on to her face. Her crush to the rescue!

"Can't you see she doesn't like what you're doing?" Luka said as he tossed the book back to Marinette. She caught it with both hands, and Luka came down the stairs to approach the young designer. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Luka." Marinette said, blushing and shyly batting her eyes at Luka.

"That's good," Luka said. "See you later, Ma-Ma-Marinette."

Marinette quietly sighed as Luka left. Marinette could've sworn her heart was beating of her chest while hearts were throbbing in her eyes. Adrien pouted angrily at his fun getting ruined.

The bell rang and everyone started to leave the schoolyard to go to class.

Marinette and Alya shared a bench in their classroom. Alya had gotten into the classroom ahead of Marinette but behind Adrien, and triple-checked for any pranks on the seats. Adrien sat in the back of the classroom with Nino.

Marinette soon came in, approached Alya, and said, "So?"

"All clear." Alya said.

"Thanks." Marinette said before sitting down.

Ever since Adrien started pulling pranks on Marinette, Alya would have her BFF's back by double and triple-checking her seats for anything like whoopee cushions or false vomit. The one thing Adrien _wouldn't_ do was put gum in her seat, which was the weird thing.

"Honestly, Adrien doesn't know when to quit." Alya said.

"I know, and it's _so frustrating_," Marinette said. "He's never stooped to Chloé's level, but still, none of his pranks are funny. At least, not to me."

"I don't get why Nino finds it amusing either." Alya said, mentioning her boyfriend.

"Whatever the reason is, I just want the rest of the day to go by uneventfully." Marinette said. By "uneventfully," she meant no akumatizations and no pranks from Adrien for the remainder of the class day.

"Yeah, going one full day without Adrien's crap would be great." Alya agreed, and then the girls were giggling.

Adrien, meanwhile, was sitting next to Nino in the back of the classroom. His green eyes filled with playfulness were glued to the back of Marinette's head and he couldn't fight off a smile.

Nino sighed and shook his head, thinking his best friend was incorrigible.

The teacher, Mlle. Bustier, came in and she clapped her hands to quiet the class down.

"Alright everyone, settle down," Mlle. Bustier said, getting everyone's attention. "I'm sure you've noticed, but that time of year is coming up again: Valentine's Day!"

Everyone started murmuring because they either forgot and the teacher's mention of it jogged their memory, or something else altogether regarding Valentine's Day. They were also a little worried, mentioning akuma attacks offhandedly.

"Now, I'm sure you're worried that Hawk Moth is likely to akumatize someone on Valentine's Day. He's done it before, after all." Mlle Bustier said as she addressed the class.

Marinette was definitely concerned about that. Her first year as Ladybug, her classmate Kim was akumatized on Valentine's Day after getting cruelly rejected by Chloé (no surprise there). The entire Dark Cupid mishap led to Ladybug kissing a brainwashed Cat Noir. She enjoyed kissing him, but she didn't want to do it under those circumstances.

She was _desperately hoping _that Hawk Moth would at least take _this _Valentine's Day off, but she knew it was unlikely if not impossible to happen.

Adrien wasn't looking forward to a possible akumitization on Valentine's Day, either. Being Cat Noir had its perks, giving him a chance to get away from his father's control so he could relax and have some fun, but even Adrien had to admit that sometimes he needed a break from fighting Hawkmoth.

"So, to make sure everyone can remain upbeat the day of, the school is having a Valentine's Day party!" Mlle Bustier announced. "We'll have plenty of snacks and drinks, and our class will send Valentines to each other. No exceptions!"

Everyone started clamoring about what they would do to give Valentines to each other (though they were all anticipating nothing but spite and cruelty from Chloé, who was _steadily_ improving her attitude), but Marinette was the one who wasn't amused with the idea of sending a Valentine to Adrien.

"Oh really?" Marinette murmured. "If she thinks I'm going to enjoy sending a Valentine to Adrien, then she's sorely mistaken."

Alya put a hand on Marinette's shoulder and said, "Yeah, you don't have to enjoy it, but she didn't say you couldn't send a Valentine to Luka."

Marinette smiled at this notion. Alya was right: sending a Valentine to Adrien might've sounded like a drag, but sending one to Luka? That sounded like a lot of fun.

Speaking of Luka, would _he_ send her a card?! Just the idea of it made her smile.

* * *

The thought was still on her mind at dinner that night with her parents. Since it nearing Valentine's Day and Tom was _ever_ the romantic, he and Sabine made all of the food heart-shaped and Valentine themed. Marinette snorted back a laugh at how embarrassing her parents would be if she ever brought Luka home for a dinner date.

"Oh dear, seeing all those young couples coming and going from the bakery with treats for their loved ones really makes you happy, doesn't it?" Tom said to his wife, Sabine.

"It sure does, Tom," Sabine said with a smile. "Your candy apples are a hit as always. And the packaging Marinette designed is popular, too."

"Thanks, mom," Marinette said, picking at her food. "I'm not surprised that everyone's getting excited over Valentine's Day."

"Speaking of which, when are you ever going to bring a boy over?" Tom said with a teasing smile.

"The day Hawk Moth decides not to akumatize anyone on Valentine's," Marinette said with a scoff. "Remember what happened last year?"

"Yes, the whole "Love Singer" disaster," Sabine said with a sigh and a laugh. "The poor kid. A romantic serenade gone wrong was all it took."

"But thanks to you and Cat Noir, Marinette, everything got straightened out." Tom said with a smile as he handed Tikki some chicken.

Marinette's parents found out about Tikki and Marinette being Ladybug a long time ago, and while they were at first shocked and upset about this huge secret of hers, they soon came to understand and accept it. In fact, they were proud of her. They'd often cover for her when need be and treated Tikki as a member of the family.

"Thanks. Mlle Bustier said the rest of the school is having a Valentine's Day party as a way to keep everyone's spirits up, _and_ I have to send Valentines to everyone in my class." Marinette said with a roll of her eyes.

"I don't see what's so bad about that, Marinette," Sabine said. "Besides, you're going to be getting a bunch of valentines yourself, won't you?"

"True," Tikki said as she swallowed her chicken piece. "And there aren't any parameters for the cards themselves. Marinette's no slouch with making them, and she could buy them if she's short on time."

Marinette was quiet. Tikki was right, and Marinette started thinking about the type of valentine she'd send to Adrien, or what it might look like or even say. A scowl marred her face as she thought of some of the things that she could say to tell Adrien off for good.

She imagined one card that had a variety flowers on it and it said, _"Roses are red, violets are blue, flies are annoying and so are you!" _

Another card popped up in her head. This one was heart-shaped with lace and it said, _"Peonies are yellow, tulips can be red, you're about as pleasant as a loaf of stale bread!"_

"You okay, Marinette?" Sabine asked.

Marinette snapped out of her musings and said, "I, er... Sorry, mom. I was just thinking about a Valentine to send to Adrien Agreste."

"Oh, that young model from Gabriel?" Tom asked. "Is he a boy that you like?"

"A boy that she likes?!" Tikki asked incredulously while Marinette's eyes flashed with anger.

"No way!" Marinette said. "I can't even see him as a friend!"

"Oh?" Tom said, quirking a brow. "He's not even a friend to you?"

"No! Friends don't call you a nickname that you've _repeatedly told __them_ that you _don't like!_" Marinette said.

"Is that all he does?" Sabine asked.

"Is that all? _Is that all?! _Hell _NO_, that's not all!" Marinette said. "He's constantly giving me a hard time and trying to rile me up to get a laugh!"

"Name one time." Tom said, crossing his arms. He couldn't really believe that Adrien Agreste, Paris's Sunshine Child, would be such a nuisance to his daughter.

"This morning he stole my sketchbook and led me on a chase throughout the schoolyard! Yesterday he put fake spiders in my backpack! Last week he joy-buzzed me!" Marinette ranted as she counted all the incidents on her hands, causing her parents to look at each other questioningly.

"Don't forget about the whoopee cushion from two days ago," Tikki pointed out. "You'd just gotten back from the bathroom and Adrien put it there without Mlle Bustier knowing. Some of the others were cracking up, but you were redder than your suit."

"And don't even get me _started_ on the rubber snake in my locker! Or the phony nail polish spill during Home Ec!" Marinette said as she slumped down in her chair. "Adrien's nothing but a nuisance! If he doesn't stop it, I'm going to rat him out to Mr. Damocles!"

"Alright, alright, we get the point." Sabine said, trying to calm her daughter down.

"Why not ask Luka to make him stop?" Tikki suggested. "After all, he _did_ get your sketchbook back today."

Marinette blushed at the idea of asking Luka to get Adrien to knock it off with the pranks. Tom and Sabine gave Marinette knowing smiles and Tom asked, "Is Luka your boyfriend?"

"What?! _Boyfriend?!_" Marinette spluttered, blushing. "No! No! At least... Not yet."

Marinette rested her hand on her cheek as she continued to eat dinner. She _really_ didn't want to have to get Adrien a valentine, but she knew she had no choice.

"Anyway, Alya and I are going to go card shopping, but I think that I should make them instead... I'll just see what happens." Marinette said.

* * *

On his end, Adrien had some free time, so he was at Nino's place talking about what they were going to do for the Valentine's party. Unsurprisingly, Nino was asked to DJ the event, and he already had the perfect valentine in mind for his vixen Alya. Adrien on the other hand...

"Dude, was stealing her sketchbook and running around the schoolyard today _really_ necessary?" Nino said.

"Maybe it _was_ a little much," Adrien admitted. "I _did_ have an idea..."

"Like what, dude?" Nino asked.

"Well, if Marinette actually ran up to grab the book, I would've used that chance to steal a kiss," Adrien said. "On the other hand, if I'd kept my hands on it, I would've shown the designs to my father."

"I think just _asking _Marinette if you could show her book to your father would've worked." Nino commented.

"You're right." Adrien said.

"You wouldn't've been able navigate the real world without me, dude." Nino said.

"Yeah. And I _still_ don't know how, Nino," Adrien said as he started looking on Etsy for Valentine's Day card ideas. He had money to spare so he could afford to buy meaningful cards for all of his friends. "I want this to be perfect for Marinette."

"What are you talking about, Adrien? Just do it _without the pranks_. Simple as that," Nino said before snickering at something that Adrien did in the past. "Though I _will_ admit that the rubber snake in the locker was pretty funny."

"Yeah, I got that idea from watching "Pioneer Woman." You know, that American cooking show focusing on a cattle rancher's wife?" Adrien said.

"Not really, no," Nino said with a shrug. "But as I was saying, if you're going to tell her how you feel on Valentine's, just don't pull any pranks."

"I know, but that's the part I'm worried about," Adrien said as he kept scrolling through the site for ideas. "I don't know _how_ to tell her without any jokes. I envy you, Nino. You and Alya have it easy."

"I was pretty upfront with my feelings, dude," Nino said. "Unlike you, I'm no class clown."

"I get it, I get it," Adrien said with a sigh. "I was going to tell her how I felt at the zoo sans pranks, but that really went south."

"Yeah, it would've gone better if Mr. Césaire hadn't gotten akumatized and _someone_ hadn't flipped his script!" Nino said, glaring at the blonde in annoyance.

Adrien grimaced at the memory. As his wingman, Nino tried to help Adrien out by staging a double-date to the zoo. They had bluetooth earpiece/microphone sets so Nino could coach Adrien through the entire date while he hid nearby.

_~Flashback~_

_Adrien was sitting on the bench in the zoo. He put on his earpiece/microphone set and turned it on. _

_"Testing, testing. Do you copy, dude?" Nino said through his own earpiece. _

_"Yeah, I read you, Nino," Adrien said. "I still don't know if I can do this."_

_"Of course you can, bro! Just be yourself!" Nino said. _

_"Remember what happened when I tried doing that _last time?_" Adrien said. _

_Yeah, the boys knew what happened: with Nino's encouragement, Adrien was going to march right up to Marinette and try to talk to her, but he got so distracted that he wound up walking into the girls' bathroom by mistake. He dashed out just as fast in embarrassment. _

_"Oh yeah... Make sure you watch where you're going, too." Nino said. _

_Adrien took a deep breath and he muttered, "Where are you, oh girl of my dreams?" _

_"How can she be the girl of your dreams if you constantly pull pranks on her?" Plagg, Adrien's kwami asked as he peeked out from under Adrien's button-down shirt._

_"Plagg, stay hidden!" Adrien hissed as he pushed Plagg back into hiding. _

_"Dude, target at 10 o'clock! And she's alone!" Nino said, startling Adrien. _

_Adrien floundered a bit before turning to his left, and sure enough, Marinette was making her way over to him. She had a suspicious look on her face, meanwhile his heart fluttered at the sight of her._

_"Princess! You're here!" Adrien said as he patted the seat next to him._

_Marinette, still suspicious, sat down next to Adrien and said, "Again, don't call me that... Um, where's Nino?" _

_"Tell her that something came up on my end and I couldn't make it." Nino said. _

_"Oh, um, something important came up on Nino's end. He couldn't make it," Adrien said, repeating Nino's lines. "So... Where's Alya?" _

_"She had to clean her room. She'll be a bit late." Marinette explained, thumb-jerking behind her. _

_"Oh, um, good!" Adrien said, earning a confused expression from Marinette. _

_"No! NOT good, dude!" Nino said. _

_"Er, I mean, that's no big deal," Adrien said. "I guess it's just the two of us together... Um, alone then." _

_"I guess..." Marinette said, still looking suspicious. _

_"Okay now repeat after me: I guess this works out anyway." Nino said. _

_"Well... I guess this works out." Adrien said, trying to reach his arm out so he could hug Marinette's shoulder. _

_"How so?" Marinette asked. _

_"Because I wanted to..." Nino said, feeding Adrien lines. _

_"Because I wanted to..." Adrien continued. _

_"Tell you that I've been in love with you from the first day we met, Marinette." Nino said._

_Adrien blushed and gave Marinette a finger to tell her to give him a second. He turned around and said into the microphone, "Nino, I can't say that _now! _She's gonna think I'm pranking her again!" _

_"Just trust me on this, dude." Nino said. _

_Adrien swallowed a lump in his throat. He turned back around to Marinette and looked her in the eyes._

_"So, what did you want?" Marinette asked. _

_"I wanted to tell you that... That..." Adrien began, but looking into Marinette's pretty blues and staring at her sweet pink lips made his heart jump up in his throat. "That... Nino's got a crush on Alya!"_

_"What?!" Marinette and Nino said collectively. Nino in shock, Marinette in delight. _

_"Nino likes Alya?! Wow, that's adorable! I always knew that she'd attract some guy's interest!" Marinette said, perking up and smiling. _

_"Uh, yeah! I always thought that they'd be cute together... Don't you think?" Adrien said, rolling with it. _

_"Dude, what are you doing, throwing me under the bus like that?!" Nino said, panicking and blushing. _

_"__Your best friend and MY best friend? Sounds like a match made in heaven to me! __Hey, I can talk to Alya about it. I've gotten the vibe that she's interested in Nino, too." Marinette said. _

_"Great idea." Adrien said, feeling a bit relieved that Marinette was actually talking to him without hostility for once. _

_"No, NOT a great idea! You're supposed to be confessing your love to Marinette, NOT setting me and Alya up on a date, dude!" Nino chastised angrily. _

_Just as Adrien was about to try to tell Marinette his true feelings, all the animals in the zoo started stampeding. The teens had to scatter for cover, aborting the mission. _

_~End of Flashback~_

"W-Well, look at it this way! You and Alya got together in the end, right?" Adrien said.

"I guess so, dude," Nino said, rolling his eyes. "But now's the perfect time for you to get the girl! You just need to start with the right valentine card for her!"

Adrien kept scrolling through Etsy, absentmindedly looking at valentines. Just as he was about to give up and try and make a card instead, his eyes landed on the _perfect_ one. He smiled and said, "Nino, I think I hit the goldmine."

Nino looked at the screen and he smiled back, saying, "Nice one! Go get her, dude!"

Marinette found the perfect card for Adrien, too. She and Alya were out shopping at the card store, looking for valentines for their class. Marinette decided to make most of hers for her friends, but opted to buy the ones she planned to give Chloé and Adrien. She decided to be cordial with Chloé, but make a point to Adrien.

"Hey, I think I found the perfect one for Nino!" Alya said as she picked a card up.

It was shaped like a DJ setup and inside the card said, "The tunes you create are music to my ears! Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Oh that's cute!" Marinette said. "I think that's perfect for him!"

"Okay! Found anything for the blonde nuisance?" Alya joked.

"Nothing yet..." Marinette said.

"You could always make a card that shows him how you feel." Alya said.

"No way. Doing _that_ for Luka." Marinette said as she shook her head.

"Hey, look at this one!" Alya said as she took up a card.

Marinette looked it over and laughed. Basically, the card depicted a sack of raw and unsalted mixed nuts being poured over someone's head. Inside the card, the nut pile had spilled over, and it said, "Nutcases come in every size and shape, but when it comes to crazy, you take the cake!"

"Oh this is perfect!" Marinette said, giggling. "I'll sign it "Guess who?" I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

Marinette and Alya started laughing at this comment and then the girls went to check out for their cards.

Once they left the shop, Alya's phone started going off. It was the alert app she put on her phone that told her whenever there was an akuma attack. This way she could keep getting new material for the Ladyblog. And the "Akuma Alerts" the city put in place also helped because now everyone's phones received alerts about the akuma's whereabouts so the police could start evacuations in that area, and people can know when and where the akuma was attacking so that way people could know to stay away from there until the danger's over.

"Oh! There's a supervillain at the zoo!" Alya said.

"_Please_ don't tell me it's your dad again..." Marinette complained, remembering the whole "Animan" disaster.

"No, not this time. In fact, my dad's the one _getting _attacked! This time the villain's someone who likes to think of herself as Catwoman, calling herself "Jungle Princess,"" Alya explained. "And she wants to free all of the captive zoo animals! I gotta get the scoop! Sorry girl, I'll catch you later to work on the cards!"

"Okay!" Marinette said as she watched her best friend dash off.

She then took the chance to hide and transform. She ran out of another exit in the mall, ducked behind a nearby dumpster and let Tikki out of hiding.

_"Tikki, spots on!" _Marinette shouted as she transformed into Ladybug.

She then wrapped her yo-yo around a chimney and started zipping off to the zoo to stop the akuma.

* * *

After "Jungle Princess" had been taken care of, the remainder of the time up to Valentine's Day was quiet.

Out in the schoolyard of the high school, the decorations had red, white, and pink balloons hanging and matching confetti spread around the grounds. There was a large treat table with punch, veggie platters, and so many varieties of desserts. The music was pulsing through the party courtesy of Nino, everyone was having a good time, and they were exchanging valentines. Chloé's valentines weren't necessarily the worst. Being Queen Bee, holder of the Bee Miraculous, really helped her shape up in recent months. She was still getting the hang of kindness in the letters.

Marinette herself was keeping an eye out for two things: Luka so she could give him a valentine, and Adrien's reaction to her valentine to him. She couldn't wait to see how he reacted.

A la _école élémentaire_, Mlle Bustier mandated that the students created pouches and envelopes to collect their valentines in so they could gather them up from their classmates and read them on their own time.

"Hey Marinette! Why not open some of the cards while you wait for Adrien's reaction?" Alya suggested.

"Great idea! Hey, here's one from Nathaniel," Marinette said as she picked up an envelope with Nathaniel's signature mark that he put in most of his sketches and drawings. "Oh, it says, "Marinette, you can be my damsel-in-distress anytime." Talk about corny."

"Yeah, I can't believe he's _still_ carrying a torch for you after all these years," Alya said as she nudged Marinette. "Is he ever gonna get the hint that Marc's got a thing for him?"

"I don't know, but those two make a great comic-book making team." Marinette said.

"Thanks to you, girl." Alya said.

Marinette kept looking through the cards. The remainder of her classmates all had given her very sweet cards. She rolled her eyes at the one that Chloé had given her. Marinette saw that Chloé made an effort to be kinder to her, that much was apparent, but those two still had a long way to go before becoming friends.

Over with Nino and Adrien, the latter got _tons_ of valentines from girls who _weren't_ in his class. And he'd gotten a really gaudy one from Chloé. It was covered in too much glitter and shiny baubles, so he and Nino needed to cover his eyes.

"Yikes! This is so bright I can't even _read _it." Adrien said as he put the card back in its envelope and put it back.

"Thanks, dude," Nino said. "I was gonna go blind."

"No problem," Adrien said as he filtered through more valentines. He picked one up and he opened the envelope. He took out the card and a smile grew on his face. "Nino, check this one out!"

The card showed someone's head being buried in nuts from a burlap sack with a heart on it.

Adrien opened the card up and he read it aloud, "Nutcases come in every size and shape, but when it comes to crazy, you take the cake. Guess who?"

"Wow. Talk about a rude card. Who could've sent you _this_ one?" Nino said with a roll of his eyes. He already knew the answer.

Instead of being hurt or upset, Adrien just started to laugh. Nino looked at his best friend questioningly before asking, "Hey, dude! What's gotten into you?"

"Nino, this is hilarious," Adrien said. "And I know _just_ who sent it to me."

He pointed over to Marinette, who was still talking with Alya, who'd seen everything.

"Oh, Marinette, did you see Adrien's reaction?" Alya asked as she saw how Adrien reacted to the card. But then she noticed that her BFF was looking over one particular card that left her breathless.

It was a beautiful card that looked like it was very pricey. It was a golden with glitter covering it. In the center of the card was a heart that said, "Royalty in my heart."

Marinette opened up the card and it turned into a pop-up princess carriage in the same decoration and scheme. The carriage decoration had a woman in a ballgown stepping down from the carriage, and a dashing man in a military jacket was holding her hand to help her step down.

"Wow..." Marinette said, her eyes glued to the card.

"It's _gorgeous_, Marinette!" Alya said.

"It says, "Every beauty needs a beast. Will you be my valentine?" Talk about a romantic card." Marinette said, blushing.

"Who's it from, who's it from?!" Alya said, eager to get the details.

"That's the strange part. It's signed "Guess who?" Any ideas, Alya?" Marinette asked.

"Well, I know who you _want it _to be from," Alya said, nudging Marinette and then pointing out Luka, who was standing by the punch bowl and talking with some of the other band members, his sister included. "After all, if it were me, _I'd_ wanna know who sent me a beautiful valentine like that. There's Luka over there at the snack table. Go ask him!"

Marinette smiled and blushed with a nod. She started walking to the snack table to talk to Luka and hopefully give him her valentine for him in turn.

But she was blocked by Adrien, who was giving her a smile and holding the card she'd sent him.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien said, using her name instead of "Princess" for a change. "I can get you some punch or anything to drink if you'd like."

"Oh, so you can dump it over my head?" Marinette asked, a hand on her hip and a scowl on her mouth.

"No way," Adrien said. "Not happening. I'm sorry about everything that I did. In fact, I think that the card that you sent me was hilarious. And I don't blame you for doing it. By the way, how'd you like that card I sent you?"

Marinette's eyes blew wide as she looked at the card and back at Adrien before saying, "Wait, _you_ sent me this?"

"Yep," Adrien said. "I thought it'd be perfect for you."

"I..." Marinette began, completely baffled. She kept looking at the card and back to Adrien before finding her words. "...Thank you."

After that, Marinette _completely_ forgot about giving Luka her card.

And Marinette _still _couldn't figure out what was going through Adrien's head when she got back home. She gave the card over to Sabine and she told him what happened.

"It's a really beautiful card," Tikki said as she got a good look at the card itself. "I don't think I've seen one like this."

"I'd have to agree, Tikki," Sabine said as she looked it over. "But I totally understand why you're confused. Any rational or reasonable person would think that this is another prank, especially after all the jokes he's pulled on you."

"I know," Marinette said. "I don't get it, and he didn't do anything to me after giving me the card."

"Well, I do seem to remember that when I was in elementary school myself, there was this horrible boy in my class," Sabine began. "I just _cringe_ at the memories of what he did. He once put a Chinese longhorned beetle in my hair and laughed when I was screaming my head off at the discovery. I got into major trouble with the teacher."

"Ew!" Marinette said, cringing.

"That was nothing. I once had very long hair, and he cut it while I was taking a nap. When I woke up, I screamed at the sight of the horrible job he did," Sabine said. "But... I guess once I got over the anger of it, I realized it looked good. Kept my hair short ever since."

"He sounds terrible," Tikki said. "Didn't _he_ ever get what was coming to him?"

"He did," Sabine said. "But after a few years, he just... Stopped."

"Whatever happened to that guy?" Tikki asked.

"I really don't know. Once I hit junior high, he and his family moved away. Haven't heard from him since." Sabine said.

"Do... Do I know him?" Marinette asked.

"Certainly not," Sabine laughed as Tom came in to the living room with some leftover treats from the bakery. "I can tell you right away that it most certainly _wasn't_ your father."

"Yeah. Your grandmother didn't raise no knave!" Tom said with a smile and a laugh. "She taught me to _never_ pick on a girl I liked."

Marinette fell into silent thought after this conversation with her parents.

* * *

Marinette and her gal pals were in the schoolyard talking up a storm again. They were still gossiping about the party the day before. Myléne was going on and on about the valentine she'd gotten from Ivan, meanwhile Alya couldn't stop talking about the one Nino gave her.

"Marinette, heads' up! Adrien's coming!" Alix said as she pointed out the blonde sauntering his way over to them.

"Not again..." "Doesn't he know when to stop?" "What's he up to _this time_?"

The girls had seen Adrien prank Marinette too many times. They were sick of it. Every time they'd try to intervene, or tell him point-blank to stop, nothing seemed to work.

"Hey, Marinette." Adrien said with a smile.

"What do you want?" Myléne asked, crossing her arms.

"I was hoping to ask Marinette something," Adrien said as he held both hands out to show he was unarmed. "I was thinking, Marinette... Wanna sit together at the assembly tomorrow?"

"Hah! As if she'd sit with a prankster like you!" Alya said.

"Yeah, Adrien. You're likely to put a whoopee cushion on her seat tomorrow!" Alix said.

Marinette held her hand up to silence the girls and then she stood up before approaching Adrien. She smiled and said, "No pranks?"

"Promise!" Adrien said, one hand in the air and another over his heart.

"Okay, then I guess we can." Marinette said, much to the surprise of her friends.

"Great!" Adrien said as he held out his arm. "So... May I walk you to class, Princess?"

"You may." Marinette said as she held on to his arm and he started walking her to the classroom.

The girls were looking at each other, completely confused, and Juleka muttered, "Whatever happened to being head-over-heels for my brother?"

The girls shrugged in response.

Once Marinette and Adrien got to the classroom, Adrien dusted her seat off with a napkin before throwing it out. She sat down. He smiled as if remembering something and he said, "Oh, I almost forgot."

He reached behind him. Marinette braced herself for something like a fake spider or something in that vein. But she was surprised when he pulled out a bundle of florist paper with a red ribbon instead. Inside was red rose with some baby's breath. Marinette looked at him and the rose, and noticed that he flipped the fringe of his hair.

Seeing this, she snorted in laughter and said, "Taking a hint from Pokémon's Drew, huh?"

"Yep," Adrien chuckled as Marinette took the rose and she inhaled its scent. He then sat down next to her. "M... May I?"

Marinette saw that he wanted to put his arm around her shoulder. Smiling and said, "Go ahead."

Adrien, relieved at her consent, wrapped his arm around Marinette's shoulder and said, "I guess _this_ is a better way to show a girl how you feel."

"Finally realized that, huh?" Marinette laughed.

Adrien nodded and Marinette leaned her head against his shoulder while he leaned his head on top of hers.

He couldn't wait to tell Ladybug that he'd gotten the girl of his dreams.

* * *

**And that's that! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! We definitely need some sweetness and romance here in the fandom, especially with the premiere of Season 3 establishing Lila's return. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's angry/scared/worried about it.**

**And I wanted to make sure that everyone got the point that no one should have to put up with that kind of treatment, to the point that I made it clear that unlike in the book, Sabine didn't marry the guy who picked on her. **

**And before we sign off, "The Pioneer Woman" is a real show on the Food Network AND the host, Ree Drummond, said in several episodes that rubber snakes are a common prank in the family, especially between her and her husband. **


End file.
